Don't give up
by xXxNightlockxXx
Summary: All of this happens before Hunger Games. Soon, the 60th annual Hungergames will begin. Celeste is battling in her own games tough. Her games of survival, friendship, hate and ofcourse, love. Will she make it out alive, even after the reaping? Co-starring: Haymitch Abernathyyy :D Rated T just to be sure. So far, this is a Friendship story. Will it ever evolve to Romance?


**Hey there!  
Another story (involving Haymitch Abernathy :DDD).  
I must say, he isn't the most easy person to write from, so if you have any tips for making him more easy to deal with, please say so! I would appreciate it so much! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Characters belong to Suzanne collins. **

**This story takes place BEFORE Katniss!  
so, actually, this makes Haymitch younger? Yes, yes it does. (Personally, if you need to picture an image of him at this age, look at Josh Holloway playing his role of Sawyer in Lost :D {Omg, he's sooo smexxyyyy} )  
**

**(un)Official soundtrack:  
**_** watch?v=VTQX8DOB9P4&feature=relmfu  
The maine- Dont give up (on us) **_

**Anyways, enjoy!  
**

"_**A good man said,  
if you're feeling dead,  
You gotta try to find a way to be alive**_

_**this is not a game**_

_**but you have to play**_

_**don't need a reason to breathe**_

_**just like you're dying." **_

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_**I **_

Silence. The way I liked it.  
Well, it wasn't really quiet. Not like that. I was only without the precence of any other human beings. In the forest, just behind the fences of district twelve. My fingers traced the lines of the tree where i sat in, and meanwhile I stared out in front of myself. I thought of mom. Dad. They left me, they ran off together. Everyone, including myself, thought they were dead. A few rays of sunlight fell trough the thick roof of leaves above her, creating funny, golden spots on the ground. I sat there for a while, doing nothing but enjoying the forest. Then, beneath me, I heard a clump of bushes rustle in an unnatural way. I looked down and saw a wild turkey. As quietly as possible, I grabbed one of the trowing knives from my belt. I aimed, I trew, I killed.

The peacekeepers in this district have always been kind of relaxed if it comes to the rules. As long as they get their share in the Hobb, they accept whats going on most of the time. I traded the turkey with a young woman, somewhere in her twenties. She gave me a whole bread with 5 strawberries in return. The bread was a bit old, but it would still be delicious.

"Celeste!" A voice behind me called out. I turned around, to see Merry-Ann stand there. We were best friends, we've always been, yet tough we are the exact opposites. I was calm and controlled, while she was wild and out of control. But she could make something loose in me, something that shouted that we only live once, so we should enjoy it to the very last part. She lost her brother in the reaping, he was killed in the horrible hunger games. Merry-Ann was very popular. When we first met, I always wondered why she would hang out with a girl like me.  
"Hm?"  
"Have you heard?" She asked, her seam-grey eyes sparkling with joy. As far as I knew, nothing important happened. She must've seen my puzzled face, because she replied quickly.  
"Our only victor is back in our district!" So that's it. She is all excited over a stupid drunk men that spent almost the whole year in the capitol.  
"Yeah, he should be back now, the reaping starts soon." Her face darkened at my words, but as usual, they quickly made way for joy and happiness.  
"Lets check it out!" She said.  
"Wait… What? Ann, are you seriously planning on trying to enter the victor's village?" She nodded.  
"Its impossible!" I almost shouted. It was a bad idea. But here in the seam, we are already doomed. So why not?  
"No it's not. Believe me. Behind the fith house in the line there is a small gap trough we can enter the small street of the victor's village without being seen by any peacekeepers!" So she had it all figured out already. Typically her.

"Okay. When?" She rolled her eyes.  
"At night, ofcourse! We'll meet at the meadow, okay?" I agreed and made my way home.  
I grabbed the bread and the strawberries from my bag. I used two of the strawberries to squeeze them and put them on the bread, I ate the others. After half of the bread, I decided to save the rest for later.

Night began setting in, and I made my way to the meadow. Merry-Ann was already there, ofcourse. She gave me an black, old shirt with an hoodie.  
"Here. Your hair will stand out too much" I laughed. Having blonde hair in the seam was rather unusual, and none of my parents had tis colour of hair. Odd. We made our way trough the gap, and looked at the biggest houses we've ever seen in real life. He lived there, all by himself.  
"What now? " I asked her. She waved me to follow, and so I did. She pointed at the only house that was lit, but the curtains were closed shut.  
"Damn." She mumbled.  
"Maybe it's better if we go back? What use is this anyways, spying on a drunk fool?" She laughed.  
"He's not just a drunk fool, its Haymitch Abernathy!" She almost yelled the words. I rolled my eyes. What was so special to this guy? That he killed so many people. And he is old. Somewhere in his twenties now, I guess.  
"Look!" I followed the pointing finger of Merry-Ann. The front door was open.  
"We're _not _going in there!" I said.  
"But what if he has food? He must have! You might hunt, but I don't. I have my mother, father and two brothers! We can't risk loosing me in the games too, so I earn everything by doing things like this! Mom's getting worse!" Her mother was sick, but she ment everything to Merry-Ann. The doctors have tried all kind of things, but they can't fix her. They didn't have the money to go and see a capitol-doctor.  
"Sorry, but what if he's there?" She shrugged.  
"It's not that he'll kill two sixteen year-olds." That was true, I think.  
"But-"  
"No buts. We're going in!" Fine. We crossed the street, and entered the victor's house. It was a mess. The scent of alcohol hung in the air, stinging in my eyes. We could hear the television. This was so stupid! Why did I ever get myself into this! Out of habit, I put off the hoodie and shook my hair back in shape.  
"Merry-Ann, we should really go now… This is stupid!" She shook her head and walked in the living space, out of my sight. I followed, but before I catched up with her, I heard a cough behind me. I swirled around, to find myself facing a young, blonde man. His eyes were seam grey, drilling into mine.  
"What do we have here? Are you lost?" His tone was sarcastic. He was drunk, for sure. His breath smelled like alchohol while he leaned against the wall for some support.  
"E-e-e-uhm.." I couldn't murmur a word. I'm usually a good liar. But how could we explain this situation? We… Wait! Merry-Ann! She mustn't get into trouble!  
"So, you can't talk? Anyways…" He took a break to take a few gulps of the bottle he was holding in his hand, "I'm Haymitch. Hay. Mitch. Whatever you want to call me. And this…" He waved around, pointing over the house, "Is my house. Not yours. Mine. Now, goldilocks, what's your name?" I calmed down. He was drunk as fuck, he wouldn't remember a thing anyways.  
"Celeste." He laughed.  
"Celeste… A little angel…" He said, stepping closer to me. I didn't understand what he meant.  
"Ah… Your name, Celeste, means heavenly. You didn't know?" He laughed.  
"Stupid parents you have." I shook my head.  
"I don't." He laughed again and stepped closer.  
"Hey Angel, why don't you take a seat?" He said. He came closer. Too close. I raised my hand, already almost reaching his cheek to slap him, and he caught my wrist.  
"No-no, angel. " He shook his head and let my hand go. His breath made me feel dizzy. He was way too close. I stepped back, only to find the wall in my back. He placed his hands on both sides of me against the wall and came as close as possible. He stood there for a while. Then he mumbled;

"Are you scared?" I held my pokerface. I was horrified, but he mustn't know.  
"No." My voice was steady, calm. He stepped back again.  
"Good. I like that. You must be brave. Coming here." I nodded. Whatever way I could get out of here fast. I heard a door slam. The back door, I guess. So Mary-Ann was allright…  
"Damn girl, she just left you here?" I shrugged.  
"Haha. I bet you're doing anything for her? Friends since first grade?" He was right. So I nodded, again.  
"Don't trust her. I bet she went straight to my food supply, and won't give you anything. Right, angel?" I thought about this. And again, he was right.  
"So that's what friendship is really worth." I thought back. Always, I did everything for her. Thinking about it, Merry-Ann never did something in return. She only was my friend when she needed to. Anger flared up inside me. How could she? My hands were fists, shaking with anger.  
"Woah, li'l angel! No need to go all frenzy about it. Come. Have a drink or leave. I'm not that much of a talker." He almost finished the bottle by now. It was about half-full when I first met him. Why not? He was drunk as hell. Crazy as hell. But he never talked to anyone. Must be lonely. He walked – or tried to walk – to the living room, and from there to the kitchen. I followed. He grabbed two bottles, holding one out for me. When I reached for it, he pulled it back.

"Wait one second angel… How old are you again?"  
"Sixteen." He nodded.

"Drink- " He opened the bottle and drank some of it, "Responsible, angel." I rolled my eyes. I don't know how he acted when he was sober, but drunk, he could be funny as hell. He gave it to me. I sniffed at the bottle. It was white liquor. I drank from it. The liquid burned my troat, making me want to choke it up again, but only a few seconds later it spread a warm feeling trough my chest. I took another sip, the feeling spread out even further. I drank, untill even my fingertips felt warm. The alcohol filled up the huge gap that was just left by Merry-Ann.

"Hey.." I began.

"What?"  
"Why do you drink?" It was quiet from a while. I drank some more. I almost finished this bottle, amazed by how quickly the bottle's almost empty.

"You wouldn't understand, angel." And it was quiet again. I finished the bottle and looked at him, not daring to ask for more.  
"You're not getting any more, angel." He laughed. Was something funny? I guess so. So I laughed with him. Then we fell silent again, toghether looking at the tv, some stupid capitol-reality show was on.

"Hey angel,"  
"Hm?"  
"You know, you could… Come by one or another time again? You're good company." I felt bad for him. He must be so lonely. Only him and his alcohol.

"And aren't your parents worried?" I shook my head.  
"I'm on my own. "  
"Ahh, the same here. Capitol bitches killed my family, and my girlfriend." Sadness clouded his eyes for a short while.  
"Why?" I blurted out.  
"You never saw my games?"  
"No. I was six then." He laughed for a bit. I guess he wasn't used to young company.  
"Well, in the arena, I was confinced that I had to reach the edge of it. On the go, I teamed up with Maysilee. When we found the cliffs that marked the edge of the field, we split up. She died," He finished his bottle and took a pause to grab the next one, "then I found out that everything you trew over the cliffs got slung back by some kind of forcefield. That's how I won, using the forcefield. The capitol was outraged." He must be smart. I would've never figured that out. When I stood up from the couch to get myself some water, the world was spinning around me. I lost my footing and collapsed to the ground. Next thing I know, I lay tucked in under a soft, thin blanked on the couch and the room is empty, except for the many empty bottles lying scattered over the floor.

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_**II **_

My eyes flew open, and I panicked. _Where the fuck am I? _Empty bottles were still scattered over the floor. I sat up, only to feel my head twirling. I felt vomit coming up and ran into the first door I saw, hoping for the best that it was the bathroom. I got lucky. I trew up above the toilet. It took me several minutes to realize where I was. I was in a big bathroom, definitly not mine, with a huge mirror on one wall. Again, here too were some empty bottles. The shower was running and on the wall you could see several towels ready for use, together with many different sets of clothes. _Wait! The shower is running? _Did I turn it on? I shook my head, wich only made the headache worse. I stumbled out of the bathroom, to sit on the couch again, rubbing the sides of my head as if it would help getting rid of the headache.  
It took a while, but I started to remember things. Drinking the white liquor, talking with the victor of the last quarter-quell, being betrayed by Merry-Ann… As soon as my head was clear to think properly again, I noticed how bad I must look right now. I would smell like alcohol and vomit, my clothes spoiled.  
"Angel… You sure had your beauty sleep." I looked up, clearly annoyed.  
"Do I look like I had a beautysleep?" Haymitch grinned, wearing an t-shirt and some simple jeans, his hair still wet from the shower he just took.  
"Hmm, you should take a shower, I think. You smell bad." As if I had that luxury at home. When my parents were still there, we took a shower sometimes at one of the houses in the more luxurious part of our district. My uncle lived there. I still go there to take a shower once in a while, but it takes almost a day to reach it walking.  
"And where do you expect me to do that, genius?"  
"I don't know… Maybe here?" He grinned. _He couldn't be serious! _  
"Don't worry, angel, I'm off anyways. The train is arriving today, and if i'm quick, i could score some new drinks."

I sat on the ground of the shower, letting the hot water take away my headache, my tears mixing with them. Now I had no-one. I always was a loner at school, the only girl always around me was Merry-Ann. Well, screw her.  
But who the hell do I need actually? _Myself. _That's all it takes to be happy.  
I got dressed, -I cleaned the clothes before going in the shower- and made my way to the door. Just when I was about to grab the handle, the door slammed open, hitting my nose.

"Ouch.. Geez…" I held my nose shut as it started bleeding slightly.

"Damn girl, you okay?" I nodded. He didn't see the blood or he didn't care, but he stepped aside to let me pass.  
"And angel," He said, while pressing a big bread in my hands, "If you need a drink, you're welcome." I quickly walked outside, waving in goodbye.

Once home, i found some old cloth to press against my nose. As soon as the bleeding stopped, I went straight for my bed, no matter if it was only afternoon.

_**Hey, this will be a multiple-chapter story.  
I hope I can post chapter 2 soon, I'm working on it whenever I have the free time.  
What did you think of it? Got any tips for me? It will surely help!  
Xx- NightLock.**_


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